26Jan2013

The latest panacea: Ursolic Acid

Watch out for Ursolic Acid based supplements: they will probably soon be abundant. Not only they promote muscle growth, increased grip (and general strength), but affect glucose intolerance, being natural candidates for obesity control. Athletes are already talking and asking, so I decided to take a look. By “take a look” I mean “pubmed” it. It’s funny how “google” became a verb, as in “google him”. Pubmed too: “pubmed this stuff, let’s see what there is about it”.

It gets better: in the same study, the authors identified reductions in adiposity, fasting blood glucose and plasma cholesterol and triglycerides produced by the administration of ursolic acid.

In a subsequent study (Kunkel et al 2012), the same group identified another effect: ursolic acid increased skeletal muscle mass, fast and slow muscle fiber size, grip strength and exercise capacity. Grip strength is a traditional by-proxy indicator of overall strength increase. Specifically for strength sports and other athletic endeavors where performance is highly associated with strength, this is even more significant than a merely anabolic effect.

Most studies involving ursolic acid are dated 2005 and later. In terms of bioactive compound research, this means very, very recent. Everytime an active compound is singled out among the billions being screened, it is tested for a few of the most relevant bioactivities of industrial interest.

Ursolic acid is a block buster: Schwaiger et al identified anti-inflammatory activity. It inhibits the TNFα-stimulated expression of VCAM-1 and ICAM-1. TNF stands for tumor necrosis factor and is an important inflammatory cytokine.